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Weird, the 10-second FOX News promo came BEFORE the pre-show Toyota commercial instead of after, and not before the "FOX Presents the Simpsons" bumper they now show at the start of new episodes.

Well enough of that; it's time for the newest Christmas episode. Nice new short Christmas intro, too! Now to see how the rest of the episode holds up...

Sideshow Mel's "Just pointing it out"... was funny.
Not too big on Sophie's new voice. I do wish they could've at least gotten Drew Barrymore to voice her.
And of course it's all snowy in December, unlike here in Brockton MA, where it's still practically autumn when Christmas hits.
LOL at the motion-capture of Mr. Teeny as Sophie!

Homer and Marge being oblivious to Maggie's fear kind of reminds me of the ignorant parents who try to force their scared children to be with the mascot I sometimes portray. (At least I don't try to make it worse for them!) I did love Lisa playing the Psycho theme on the violin! (I wonder if it was a callback to her sometimes playing the violin during the opening instead of the sax?)
I also enjoyed that "converted" Itchy and Scratchy cartoon.

At least Bart and Milhouse are wearing long pants in the winter now.
Heh, a "hackey parody of 'Frozen!'"
Awww, I liked the "Merry Christmas from the Simpsons" sign.
Nothing like the holiday season to help make "The Simpsons" churn out a good episode...

I liked the "Sleigh Ride" parody at the end.

I see AKOM is still animating for the show, too. Surprised, I thought FOX Television Animation would've dumped them for Digital eMation or something (WHEN are THEY going to animate for the show?)

** Nice couch gag
* Ned's imagination
** "This Doggie likes me"
** Good dark joke with man dying
* Homer eating his fingers
* Sophie being a monkey
Decent start, 7/10
* "Men's Terlet"
** Lisa playing dramatic violin
* Gnome spitting out fingers
** Homer in the juicer
* Itchy and Scratchy cartoon
Still decent, 7/10
** Water coming out of flower
-- Awful Sleigh Bells cover
Closing Thoughts:
Good episode until it collapsed at the end,
The plots were strong, and well paced. The A plot and B Plot about Krusty and Lovejoy blended together well, and the C Plot had lots of amusing moments.
The humor, unfortunately, wasn't up to par. The first two acts had good humor, but it completely fell apart in the third act.
Overall, pretty meh. 5/10.

In the church on Sunday: the Simpsons, the Flanderses, Principal Skinner and his mother, Sideshow Mel, Miss Hoover, Janey, Wendell, Nelson,
possibly Moe, Drederick Tatum, and a few anonymous characters.

It was decent, the main two plots weren't anything special, mainly due to it being really predictable. It was obvious that Lovejoy would convert Krusty and that Krusty's dad would return in some sort of dream sequence. I actually enjoyed the side story with Maggie a lot more, it was a cute little story that didn't overstay its welcome and it led to a pretty fun dream sequence. The jokes were okay, there was nothing horrendous (which is all I ask of Modern Simps at this point) and I liked the joke about Sideshow Mel not saying anything at the beginning. As a Christmas episode, it kind of falls flat and maybe they could have developed more time to Sophie and Krusty's relationship. But then we might not have had the Maggie plot, so I'm kind of in two minds about this.

huh a Simpsons episode in the year 2016 that actually has jokes. Nothing downright hilarious of course, but it was nice to have little gags like BA'AL PIT and Krusty's hospital roommate going "I'll Give Ya Privacy" and promptly dying that weren't prolonged to death. hell I even liked the room tone joke that ended act 1 - one of the few times modern Simps has drawn out a joke without it getting instantly stale.

As for the three stories, they were all obviously rushed for time. Most egregious moment was probably Marge standing in the doorway while Krusty and Sophie were having their argument and inexplicably inviting them to the Simpsons house for Christmas. Marge and Homer hammering home the point about how the doll was supposed to be scary was also kinda obvious.

But I'm a sucker for christmassy holiday season stuff and the Maggie story was kinda cute so whatever, 3/5'ing this

I sincerely don't understand why they recasted Sophie. What, they'll call in Sarah MIchelle Gellar, Anne Hathaway, and Natalie Portman to each voice a one-off line in Moonshine River, but they replace Drew Barrymore when they finally bring back her character after over a decade? Did she couldn't/wouldn't come back for the role? Or did the producers just wanted to have an excuse to have an Orange is the New Black actress on their show?

Anyway, all three stories were incredibly rushed. The best story was Lovejoy's for at least having decent pacing and a good ending, but I don't understand why they brought back the Parson, he's one of the most boring recurring characters they've introduced in the HD era, and now we meet his even more boring boss. For the other plots, Sophie being raised as a Christian was pretty much pointless, since it didn't seem to go anywhere and there was no conflict with her dad being Jewish. Marge just randomly being in the doorway and inviting the two over was just a very forced scene to move on the plot along. And why does Sophie suddenly stay with the Simpsons after she rejects Krusty? She barely knows them and she's not related to them, why is she suddenly living with them and acting like their her family? Why doesn't she just go back with her mom for Christmas? In fact, where is her mom? It's never explained where she is during all this. It's all very distracting, and it just comes off as a very bizarre, forced attempt to insert the Simpsons into a plot which they had no business in being, especially since they pretty much did nothing in it. Krusty converting to Christianity seems to have nothing do with Sophie being Christian, just that he's now a wholesome father figure. And for some reason, Krusty wants to be baptized in the freezing water? Also, why does Sideshow Bob want Krusty dead here too, I thought the two of them made up during the Scully era. But then Krusty's dad shows up as Olaf, and then after one good speech, everything is resolved, and I guess Krusty (and maybe Sophie too?) is back to being Jewish. Also, what was up with the scene where Krusty meets his "first agent" in his dream, didn't we get a whole episode where we found out his first agent was Joan Rivers? And what happened to Sophie's violin that she loved so much? But at least the opening shot of them skating together and laughing was a pretty adorable father-daughter bonding moment,

The Maggie sub-plot was fine and pretty good but we didn't need to have Homer and Marge keep beating the viewers over the head with how their unintentionally making the doll sound scary. And really, why doesn't Marge notice how scared Maggie is? I could buy Homer not noticing it, but Marge? I guess now even Marge is an incompetent parent oblivious to her child's fears, just to make the story "work". Outside of having Jack Frost show up so they can make an outdated reference to Rise of the Guardians, the dream scene was actually pretty well done and was really cute. And then Maggie just chops up the doll at the end. That's it. That sub-plot comes literally to a screeching halt. It's a really cute sub-plot, but it really just comes off as filler to pad out the episode too.

Some of the jokes here were pretty good (Sideshow Mel wanting to say something, Apu saying his statue could be a Pixar character), and some bad (Sideshow Mel discovering his wife left him). The animation was pretty good though, especially for Krusty's reaction in the hospital to finding out Sophie is Christian.

I was to hopeful to think that this could be this season Halloween of Horror, but it was still a decent Christmas episode. I like that they used 2 secondary characters for seperate plots that eventually merge together, but at several moments it felt to rushed or forced. The Maggie subplot is really good and was a nice addition to this episode, loved the nightmare sequence and Maggie's running animation looked really cute. One of my major gripes with this episode is the chance of Sophie's voice. Why couldn't they try to bring back Drew Barrymore to voice her? Considering her having a bigger role than your usual returning guest character, they even brought back the original voices from all of Bart's ex-girlfriends in Moonshine River for just one-liners.

A nice Christmas-esque couch gag to start the episode with. Lovejoy has never been the most passionate Reverend, but they could've given him one of his boring Bible story, to get more of an impression why people don't bother going to church on a day where its supposed to be packed. I don't see why they are trying to keep the Parson as a recurring character, probably one of the blandest new HD characters. A good joke from Mel for just wanting to be heard. I liked most of the Pagan stuff, considering that its now the Christmas event in Tapped Out so most of the stuff being goofed looked familiar. Hope to get this ''Strandbeest'' aswell. The hospital scene didn't had that much going, other than 1 good joke from the old guy dying to give him a private room. It seemed out of place that the Simpson family is the only one to visit Krusty, they aren't even that close and its not like activating the Strandbeest was their doing. Felt a bit forced from Marge to invite them.

Krusty's visit were probably the most funniest moments with some nice animation , the 20 seconds room tune scene felt to FG'ish due to how they dragged on the joke for to long. Loved that motion captured shot of Mr Teeny as Sophie. The bar scene felt to rushed and predictable with Lovejoy helping Krusty, a fun joke with Snake looking like an angel. Not much to say about Krusty's performance as a Christian, I just liked how Poochie appeared at the end of the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon. In the final act it felt like things were falling apart, people were just laughing at Krusty drowning with Lovejoy being the only one bothering to save him. I liked to see the Rabbi return and how Krusty thinks his dead is a parody to Frozen. Looks pretty funny to see Rabbi lecturing Krusty as a tiny snowman. A nice father/daughter moment to end the episode with, not much of a fan of how the God's talked to each other.

Maggie's scenes were great though. It shows how scared kids can get by stuff parents give them, without realising that they can look frightening. Also reminds me how scared Bart got from his clownbed. I liked how Homer and Marge were trying to be cute with Maggie, while instead they only scared her more. Getting your fingertops bitten off is to disturbing for a baby, kinda surprised she wasn't that more scared of that scene. Some nice animations and good voice acting from the doll. Marge looks good in her Christmas lingerie... +1 for that. Oh and the plot ended there aswell, apparently they got the message. Liked the gag with the dolls in Marge's hair and Santa's little Helper only showing his head.

Its not as great as I Won't Be Home for Christmas and Holidays of Future Passed, but a lot better then those other Christmas missers like White Christmas Blues and The Fight Before Christmas. There were quite some jokes, and a proper focus on Krusty and Lovejoy without ruining their characters. Maggie's subplot is a really nice addition with some great animation, which is also the case with Krusty's visit as the Simpson house. Despite Sophie having a new voice actress, she was still basically the same character as in Insane Clown Poppy in which she was also a solid character. The story could've been better at some places, without having it feel forced.

While the episode was lacking in some areas, namely the Simpson family just sort of being there while Krusty and his daughter's story progresses and the lack of any scenes with Bart and Lisa talking to Sophie about her problems, I enjoyed this episode. The first two acts were solid, the animation direction was strong with some excellent Krusty expressions, I really liked seeing a Lovejoy B-plot that tied to Krusty's A-plot and a fun little Maggie C-plot. There were some really funny Krusty bits, like his holiday special filming and the Itchy & Scratchy short.

The fact that they did a Krusty/Lovejoy/Maggie episode as their Christmas episode was just really refreshing, and I felt that all three stories were fun, interesting and in the case of the A and B plots worked off of each other. Nowhere near as good as "I Won't Be Home For Christmas" and it certainly could not top "Holidays of Future Past", but still one of the better Christmas episodes in recent years and I'm glad we didn't get an anthology episode or a flash-forward episode.

4/5

--

On the subject of Drew Barrymore, maybe she was unavailable or didn't want to reprise the role or was just difficult to work with? I didn't really miss her.

What's with some of the artwork in this episode? Looked a bit season 1/2ish? Jasper skinny at the end was the most obvious but I could see it in other characters, perhaps a rush-job on this episode, otherwise maybe they would have waited for Drew Barrymore to voice Sophie again (assuming other commitments kept her from doing this)?

Rob Oliver directed this episode and The Town. Props for both episodes' animation direction: using fewer frames to facilitate more expressive facial expressions and a broader range of motion for the characters is a well-known, decades-old animation tactic, and it works. Too bad this episode lacks the substance to carry the animation. There's too much steeped in Krusty's Jewish heritage to make Krusty the Kristian work. Since they bothered to bring Sophie back, I think it would've been more interesting to contrast her desire for an off-camera lifestyle choice to Krusty's always-on stage presence than to suddenly bring up that she was raised Christian. Krusty's conversion to appease his daughter is often an ill-fated way for two people to find common ground, but it was too forced here and had little payoff.

Always happy to meet new fans of The Simpsons. I'm especially interested in the dubs of the show, the German dub in particular.
Incidentally, there's someone on Boards and Rec also named Lance Uppcercut. That's not me.... that is to say, that is not the same person.
Wii U / 3DS ID: KleinerUndGemein
PS3 ID: KleinerUndGemein
Steam ID: SneakTheSnake
GameFAQs profile: SneakTheSnake

An decently good and enjoyable episode. The main plot about Krusty trying to be a good father to his daughter Sophie and accepting the offer to spend Christmas with her at the Simpsons' but messing it up and trying to make amends was a nice story and the subplot with Reverend Lovejoy trying to boost attendance was good too & the way these two plots tied into one another was done well (Krusty deciding to become a Christian as a way to better himself was an interesting story and I liked the climax despite the silliness). The other subplot about Maggie and the creepy Christmas elf figurine Marge gives her was pretty funny and amusing & I'd say it was the highlight. None of them were great but I liked them for what they were.

It wasn't hilarious but there was some pretty good jokes & the episode was fairly well-paced and coherent. I liked seeing Sophie again but even though they probably couldn't get Drew Barrymore to do the voice again I wish they found someone who sounded more like her and I really would have liked a scene with Erin (Sophie's mother). It was also nice to see Jackie Mason back as as Krusty's dad in a short bit, but Wayne Gretzky's brief one-line role was ridiculously unnecessary. Anyway, the wrap-up and the ending was really rushed to make room for an unnecessary scene with the two gods as well as Krusty and Sophie caroling (it would have made a good credits scene) so it bogged the episode down a bit.

So all in all, despite it's issues (especially rushing the ending) and it not being a great episode, it was an slightly above average one; I appreciated how it focused on secondary characters instead of the Simpson family who are usually the leads in Christmas episodes and the three stories that were told were all pretty enjoyable (especially Maggie's story which upped it a little bit in my opinion) so in short it was an entertaining watch.

Sophie's just randomly back? Umm, okay. Having not read a single bit of information about the upcoming episodes I was kinda shocked, cause at first I assumed it was just supposed to be a cameo but then she's the main plot.

And as usual with modern Simpsons, it's as good as classic episodes if it wans't for the horrendous voice actor and the sound (I don't know if it's just my computer or the place I use to watch it but the new episodes have such detailed sound like when Smithers writes on a keyboard, that's just kind of depressing to hear, and same goes for other random noises).

It had a few funny moments, but overall it was pretty bland.
Three plots almost never works out, everything gets very rushed. They should have brought Drew Barrymore back, instead of re-releasing Sophie with another actress, which caused some oddity.

Jokes were mostly solid this episode but there were a few that stuck out as beaing way too unsubtle. The main emotional plotline never really hooked me-- it wasn't REPULSIVELY badly written, but the episode never really gave us a chance to connect with the characters. "Dad Behavior" suffered form this problem, and it's especially an issue with Krustmas because the focus of the episode isn't the main characters who we've been watching for the past 28 years. The rabbi's advice was at odds with the rest of the episode as well: he was giving Krusty advice on how to win his daughter back AFTER it seemed like he had already won his daughter back.

Mostly solid joke writing, good Maggie subplot, and my weakness for The Christmas Spirit save this episode from being a 2/5 so I'll round up to a 3/5.

as I've stated elsewhere, trying to rejuvenate my interest in simpsons and I want to say, at one point, that I've seen every episode. I'm going from the newest episode(s) down to s24/23, where I stopped watching, because I've seen random episodes here and there and a lot of them are so forgettable I'm not going to know if I've seen them till I go in the r@r threads and see a review I've written(which has actually happened a few times before) so here we go:

this is pretty good right now. Like the drama between Sophie and Krusty, Onto the next act

Act 2:

+"Forget it, our nonsense is so much better than your nonsense! Look at this guy, he could be a Pixar hero."

+SLH fakeout

+Itchy and Scratchy(And Poochie!)

this act had some good jokes and gags that I didn't mention; such as Wiggum tazing Snake, Homer's juicer, Mr. Largo at the very beginning. pretty good episode so far.

Act 3:

-"My death is a hokey parody of Frozen"

well, that was a stupid act.

altogether, this had some nice jokes and gags, but like others have said, that last act kind of brought it down. if the last act was as consistent, it would've been a 4/5 probably. as it stands, I'll give it a low 3/5. not too bad, could've been better.

A very underrated episode (at least by IMDB voters). It is neither by far the worst of the season nor the worst Christmas episode of the series. The episode has three stories. The main one, relates the conversion of Krusty to Christianity, which is well told and developed, at least until the terrible parody to Frozen. The secondary, tells the labor crisis of Lovejoy; Without doubt, the loosest of the three, and takes place only to give a resolution to the main. The tertiary, for its part, focuses on the relationship of Maggie with a gnome. This is the best, the most pleasant and interesting of the three. If the qualification depended on her, it would be an untenable 10/10. But no...